Data gathering has now become widespread using digital techniques. For example, digital cameras, video recorders and other digital data capturing devices are prevalent in every aspect of human endeavor. Digital documents are scanned, or created, almost without exception during the course of every financial transaction, especially in developed countries. Thus vast amounts of data are being generated and presumably saved for future use. However, this data is typically saved in association with the capturing device which, in most instances, is not the best mode (or in the proper location) for subsequent viewing or processing of the captured data.
For example, cell phones equipped with digital cameras have been widely adopted by consumers. Such phones allow for cell phone users to communicate images, in addition to voice signals, over the phone lines. Camera-equipped cell phones have facilitated news gathering and event reporting, intimate personal communications, in which pictures and images can elicit a wider range of emotional responses than voice signals alone, and business-related and research-related information transfer. However, currently, it is difficult for users to transfer their digital pictures from camera-equipped cell phones to personal computers or to other locations. Users, retailers, and designers of both computer systems and camera-equipped cell phones have recognized the need for easier, more intuitive, and more robust methods for transferring digital images recorded on camera-equipped cell phones to computers, including personal computers and workstations.